


Something Different

by GalaxyMuse



Series: Sunflowers - Ikki/Seika Series [1]
Category: Saint Seiya
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-09
Updated: 2018-12-09
Packaged: 2019-09-14 17:25:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16917156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GalaxyMuse/pseuds/GalaxyMuse
Summary: Years have passed since the long struggle with Hades. Seika has returned to Japan and works alongside Miho at the orphanage while she works to recover long lost memories and keep track of new ones. Ikki, finding a new channel for his anger in the form of art, finds himself spending more time with her. Their common commitment to their younger siblings starts things off, but as time has passed the two may have started to grow fonder feelings for each other. Ikki's unsure of what to think of this with his past love, but perhaps it's time to move on.Part 1 of the Sunflower chapters, snippets of the relationship between Ikki/Seika.





	Something Different

Ikki arrived at the orphanage and went in through the main entrance after being ringed in. It often seemed surreal to come here as an adult, when key years of his childhood were spent in its walls. Heading down the clean white halls he saw a few kids whiz by in pajamas as they headed into their rooms for bed. The one thing he did enjoy, even if he wouldn’t admit it out loud, was that the children speeding by seemed far happier than he recalled ever being while here.

Chasing after them was Seika, still dressed in her usual pink polo and long white skirt. Keeping her fingers clawed like a monster, she playfully growled after the children as they scurried to their rooms.

“The curfew monster’s out about this time, isn’t he?” Ikki asked.

Seika stopped and turned to him with a snarl. “And it’ll get you too if you don’t get to bed right away!” she threatened. Ikki could only snicker. Even when trying to sound aggressive her voice was undeniably soft and gentle.

“Well then, I’d better listen.” he relented with a smirk. “Need any help with them tonight?” he asked as she watched her go down the halls.

“That’s right, are we going to need the Curfew Monster’s assistant today?” she called down the halls.

“I can’t find my toothbrush!” one small girl said as she peeked her head out of the hall. “I forgot where June told me it was.”

“Well, it looks like we might need some help after all. Assistant, please go make sure the others are in bed while I help Meiko.” she requested, still keeping the same low growl.

Ikki chuckled as he went to to do as asked.

 

—

 

“So, anything new?” Seika asked in her normal tone. With all the children now in bed, the two of them had retreated to her apartment as the night shift took over. Seika had seated herself on her bed, with Ikki moving to sit beside her.

“Before that I uh, got something for you,” he told her, rummaging through the bag he brought to pull out a red beret. “I remembered you said you were thinking about a hat and, um,” he found himself unable to continue.

Words. Why were words so damn hard for him to string together outside of battle?

Collecting himself with a deep breath, he placed the hat in her hands. “I th-thought this one might look nice.” God. The heat on his cheeks was back. How embarrassing.

Seika took the soft hat and turned it in her hands. A look of concentration was on her face as she closed her eyes. “A hat…a hat…” she mumbled. A few seconds later her brow lifted from its furrow and her big brown eyes popped open. "Oh! Yes! I remember now! It was the day we went for crepes!“ she grinned. "That was it, wasn’t it? A few weeks ago at the mall?”

The Phoenix saint’s face reflected hers like a mirror. “Yeah, that’s right.” he answered. “I went back and found that one.”

Seika now took in her gift, with her eyes focusing on the large burgundy flower on its side. “Did you paint on this?” she asked eagerly, pointing to some of its petals that seemed to have the softest hint of shadows painted onto their creases. Along either side as well, a few golden wisps and curls had been painted going outwards.

“You got me. I wanted to try it out. I hadn’t painted on clothing before,” he admitted. “Do you like it?”

Seika placed the hat on her medium-length brown hair and checked her reflection in the mirror. “I like it a lot!” she replied gleefully. “Thank you so much, this is so sweet of you,” she told him as she sat back down, keeping the new hat on.

“I’m glad you do. It took you a lot less time this time around too.” Ikki noted.

Seika nodded. “I’ve been getting better at it. I don’t need to look at the calendar anymore either really, it’s more just habit.” After falling while trying to find her brother in Greece, Seika had occasional issues with remembering people and past events. Slowly but surely since returning to Japan, she began to recover and recall things faster.

“Great to hear.” He handed her his sketchbook, letting her peruse the pages. When he returned from Greece himself after destroying Hades, he took up art at Shun’s recommendation. Never thinking himself the type to enjoy that sort of thing, he soon grew into it as a way to express himself without words- the damned things he was normally terrible with. Nowadays it was an off day for him if he wasn’t working on a sketch or painting something with his oils.

While she looked through the book, Ikki aimlessly glanced around the room. When his eyes fell-as they always did- on Seika’s desk, he couldn’t help but feel the tiniest bit of flattery. The wall calendar hung there had the consecutive days crossed out, but on every Sunday without fail, he saw his name written in the calendar square.

“Lots of new birds this time.” Seika commented. “I like this one.” she said as she stopped on a sketch of a crow.

“Mm?” Ikki’s focus broke as he turned to the sketchbook. “Ah. Yeah. This guy showed up the other afternoon by my window.”

“You get a lot of visitors, don’t you?” she observed as she continued to check each and every page. Buildings, landscapes, plants, animals, everyday items, and even sketches of Seiya and Shun were amongst its contents.

“Yeah, I guess that’s what happens when your window is right next to a tree.” Ikki had a habit of sketching things that intrigued him during his day for practice and inspiration, and letting his creative side out more in his paintings and when coloring.

“You got my brother’s little dimple, too!” she giggled as she pointed to a picture of Seiya grinning.

“Oh yeah. He didn’t realize how long sketches take, so he was going nuts holding that grin by the end.” Idiot. But that idiot was her little brother, so he tried not to hold too much contempt over him.

“I thought your brother had green hair?” Seika queried, pointing to a colored sketch of Shun while he was reading.

“Oh. He does, I just thought it might be interesting to see what he’d look like if it was a different color.” He had opted to color his little brother with auburn hair and blue eyes in this particular drawing. “I think it sort of suits him.”

“It does. Nice choice.”

“Thanks.”

Arriving now at the most recent page, an incomplete sketch of a young smiling woman looked back at Seika. It looked like Ikki had been working fairly diligently on this one, made evident by the smudge and eraser marks all over the page.

“Are you trying to remember what she looked like again?” she asked him.

Ikki let out a soft sigh and took the book back in his hands. “I think I’m close this time.” The memories of Esmeralda were burned in his mind, but the countless times he tried to get the image of her face on paper were fruitless. He had spoken in length about her to Seika, who listened each time with interest and patience.

A beat of silence passed, then Seika spoke to break the tension. “Want to practice hands again?”

“Sounds good.” Mentioning Esmeralda around Seika was a little awkward for him these days, so anything to shift the subject was welcome.

–

Hands. They were the worst as far as Ikki was concerned, but Seika was always a willing model to help him practice. With one hand placed over the other on her lap, she leaned against the headboard of her bed. Ikki sat beside her in a chair and began to sketch in silence. Seika knew not to disrupt him until he started speaking first-he always needed to concentrate the most at the beginning.

“Shun’s got a boyfriend now.” he mentioned as he swapped pencils.

“Was it the one that he liked? …Hyoga was it?”

“Yup.”

“How are you feeling about it?”

Ikki shrugged. “Not sure how I feel yet.”

Seika chuckled through her nose. “Hopefully it’s good at some point.”

“I mean, I’m happy for him. He’s been crushing on this guy for a while. Longer than he thinks he has.”

“Funny how we pick up on these things, isn’t it?” Seika observed. A common bonding point for them was always how they cared for their little brothers. Both sets of siblings having been orphaned young, they had to take on the role of guardian before they were ready for it. It was nice for them both to relay those experiences with each other. “So where’s your concern?”

“The usual, just hope that icicle doesn’t mess with him.” Seika caught the upturn of Ikki’s lip in a scowl as he continued his sketching.

“You know, I remembered something that happened way back the other day. I had been meaning to tell you about it. Could you pause for a second?” Ikki complied to let Seika scratch the back of her ear. She then placed her hand back where it was. “Ok, go.”

The saint resumed his sketching. “So tell me what you remembered.”

“It was when Seiya learned to walk. He tripped tons of times.”

“So did Shun. Always on his rump, fortunately.”

“For Seiya it was always on his face. He kept bumping his nose to the ground and crying. I helped him the first few times, but then I let him figure it out on his own. He finally managed to do it when I wasn’t looking.”

“I know that’s got some kind of meaning behind it, so just spill the beans,” Ikki smirked, “You know how bad I am at picking up the hint on those.”

“We can’t always be there for them. And we have to trust that whatever guidance we give them is going to be enough to get them to figure things out on their own.”

Ikki worked in silence for a minute or two while he turned over what she said. “I just don’t want him to get hurt. He’s made some pretty poor decisions out there on the battlefield. God knows how he’d handle it if his heart got broken.”

“But he’s still here, isn’t he? I mean, you were lucky enough to be there to see him learn the lessons the hard way. I wasn’t there for my brother, and he made it out okay.”

Ikki fell silent as he continued sketching.

“If everything you and Seiya told me about your brother is true, then I think he’ll be okay. He’s stronger than you think. And you need to trust him.”

He both admired and hated when she was right. And he’d be the first to admit that her honesty was far easier to digest than his. Putting the last few touches on the his rough sketch, he let out a light grunt in surrender.

“As long as they use protection.”

Seika puffed her cheeks as she held back a laugh. “You certainly have your priorities laid out, don’t you?”

A few minutes more and Ikki was done with his rough sketch. He turned the sketchbook over to her to show his results. Admiring the work, she smiled over at him. “I think you’re getting better.”

“Well, I have a good reference.” he responded with his own smile.

Seika giggled as she looked back to the book. Side by side she observed the sketch of her hands on the right, with Ikki’s attempts to remember his lost love on the left. Her smile softly faded as she looked over at him. “Ikki?”

“Yeah? What is it?” He asked as he moved the chair closer to her side.

A beat of silence, then a deep breath. “I’m not Esmeralda. And I know I can’t take her place.”

Ikki took in the words and pursed his lips. “I know. I don’t want that either.”

“But these last few months have been really nice. They’re some of the best memories I can keep hold of.”

Moving to the bed beside her, he looked down at his work as well. “Me too.” The line where they started “dating”, if that’s really what it was, was hard to define. The two had just become close. Enjoyed time together. Made it a regularity to see each other once a week and, when Seika could manage it, head out together.

“What we have, I don’t think it needs a name yet.” she said slowly, looking up to him to get a read on his reaction.

“I’m okay with that. I think I prefer it that way. For now at least.” he said, taking the book and closing it. “But…well, do you-”

“I think I know how you feel about me, if that’s what you’re wondering.” she finished for him. “And I feel the same way.” her smile returned as she placed her hand atop his. "So let’s just go with that for now.“

"This is really the first time we’ve talked about it, isn’t it?” Ikki realized with a light laugh.

Seika leaned her head back to laugh as well-a silent one so as not to wake the other tenants in the building. “Yeah, it is. That went easier than I thought it would,” she confessed as she let out a sigh of relief.

He both admired and hated how well she hid when she was worried.

—

Far past midnight now, the two of them mindlessly flipped through channels in Seika’s apartment until they arrived at a nature documentary.

“Keep this on.” Ikki requested.

“Go figure you’d want to watch this.” Seika joked.

“Is that okay?” he asked a little nervously.

“Of course,” she reassured him warmly, “I like them too.”

Birds of different varieties flew and tweeted about, as the narrator spoke about their habitats.

Seika’s eyes grew heavy as another long day caught up to her. “Ikki?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you for coming tonight,” she said with a yawn. “I wasn’t sure if you were going to make it to see me today.”

Ikki couldn’t control the soft smile that crossed his face, and figured the darkness of the room would hide his obvious blush. “I’m glad it worked out too.”

Thunder rolled softly outside, soon followed by rain that tapped against the windowpane behind them. The Phoenix saint couldn’t help but feel wrapped in a soothing calm as the water poured down. His mind was quiet. There was only the rain, the TV, and her.

Seika let out a yawn and leaned on his shoulder. “Is this okay?” she asked, looking up at him.

Ikki wrapped an arm around her, taking her hand in his. “Of course.”

“Okay,” Seika confirmed through a yawn, her eyes closing soon after. “Good night.”

Hearing her soft breathing, Ikki began to close his eyes too as the peace he felt swept over him.

No, she wasn’t Esmeralda. She was Seika. Though he never thought anyone would replace the former in his heart, he could feel it grow lighter in the new found knowledge that there was hope after that tragedy; that there was room for two girls he had grown feelings for. She was Seika, and Seika was different.

And different was okay.


End file.
